Jessicah Peters/Hardeeville Today With history of the Argent railroad, a part of the city's five-year plan is to make Hardeeville a place where people are proud to call home.

Jessicah Peters/Hardeeville Today As a way to make Hardeeville a more livable community, the city wants to establish football and baseball programs for the youth.

File photo The Interstate 95 Exit 3 interchange process is about 75 percent complete. Beaufort and Jasper County recently met an agreement with the South Carolina State Transportation Infrastructure Bank.

Jessicah Peters/Hardeeville Today As the city continues to draw businesses into the area, a WilcoHess Travel Plaza recently received permits to begin construction on their 18.29 acres on U.S. 17.

As the city moves into the first year of its five-year plan, public presentations by Hardeeville officials and elected officials will be part of the process.

Councilman Scott Ready led the first presentation this month at the Greater Hardeeville Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Ready, City Manager Bob Nanni, Councilman Sal Arzillo and Mayor Pro Tem Michael Sweeney talked about the objectives involved to reach the city’s top four goals and the progress made so far.

The four goals are:

• To become more a financially sound city;

• To grow the economy;

• To make a more livable community;

• To build a great community spirit and pride.

Ready said since the city is in the first year of the plan, the progress may seem minuscule but it is laying the necessary foundation to reach the larger goals.

Jasper County Councilwoman Barbara Clark, who represents the Hardeeville Township, attended the presentation and said the city’s goals are very achievable.

“I’m happy to see their effort and I look forward to working closely with the City Council to help them reach their goals,” Clark said.

Sun City resident Bob Frantz said it is important to get the citizens involved with five-year plan.

“There are a lot of talented people in Hardeeville who are willing to get involved with the local government,” Frantz said. “Citizens are important stakeholders in government and it is important for them join a city committee or volunteer.”

PROGRESS IN GOALS

To become a more financially sound city

The city is coordinating with Jasper County Administrator Andy Fulgum to hire a grants program administrator. This person would prepare grant applications for not only the county but Hardeeville specifically. The city and county are at about 25 percent complete on discussing details of the grants program administrator.

Nanni said the next step is to handle the conflicts of who receives the assistance first if both the county and city have high priority items.

The city is 75 percent complete on establishing a Tax Increment Finance policy and model. Tax Increment Financing is a public financing method that is used for subsidizing redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects. Previously, there was no model or policy established in Hardeeville. Currently, a legal review of the TIF policy and model established by the city is under way.

At about 50 percent complete, the city is evaluating employee compensation. While looking at other labor markets, the city plans to compare salaries of employees in order to know the competition of the surrounding counties.

To grow the economy

The Hardeeville Commerce Park is in the third and final phase of being certified. In order to be certified by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, there has to be funding available to begin infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer and natural gas. In the final stage, the city plans to research opportunities to receive funding.

RiverPort Business Park, a more than 5,100-acre project by Stratford Land Fund is in the final stages of agreement with the city. Nanni said the development agreement spells out zoning and any extra items Straford Land would pay for and that the backbone of the agreement is done. Plans for the business park include warehousing, distribution and light industrial, commercial and mixed use.

The WilcoHess Travel Plaza, which was proposed a year ago, and is to be on Interstate 95 at Exit 5 recently received needed building permits. This project is in the beginning stages of demolition.

To make a more livable community

The city wants to revitalize the downtown area through the Village Renaissance Program. The progress of this project is still in the beginning stages. City Council approved paying $25,000 Alliance Consulting Engineers to conduct an assessment of the downtown area. The engineers will work closely with the city’s planning department and apply for the Village Renaissance Program grant.

The I-95 Exit 3 interchange planning process is about 75 percent complete. Beaufort and Jasper County reached an agreement with the South Carolina State Infrastructure Bank. The city is currently working on an agreement with Jasper County, Stratford Land and the state infrastructure bank which includes who the company is and lays out the engineering scope of services. The proposed plans for Exit 3 will lead to the RiverPort Business Park. Nanni said Tuesday he doesn’t anticipate any problems with the future agreements and the city is on the edge of saying the project is ready to go.

As a way to get the youth in Hardeeville involved, the city plans to develop football and baseball programs. Whether the city will fund the programs and hire someone to coordinate the programs is being discussed.

To build a greater community pride and spirit

The city wants to establish a better relationship with the local schools. This is still in the vetting process and has not yet been established.

The city is also in the process of creating a slogan for Hardeeville. Nanni said he wants to help brand the city properly and is in the process of reaching out to other communities for ideas. With the history of the Argent railroad, Argent train Engine No. 7 continues to be an icon for Hardeeville.

As city officials start promoting the five-year plan, Nanni said there is no set schedule of where the plan will be presented next.

“I’ve been in contact with the Sun City North community coordinator and they have invited me to come out and speak, but we haven’t set an exact date yet,” Ready said Tuesday. “We’re open to going to anywhere and everywhere to vocalize the city’s five-year plan. I was thrilled at the turnout and thankful for all the interested individuals who attended and gave feedback.”